Hitokiri Inuyasha
by Ligar Zero X
Summary: IYRK XOVER Inuyasha has lived for three centuries and has made quite an interesting life for himself, namely as a hitokiri. He goes in search of the man once known as the Battousai, just in time for an old friend from the past to return. Moved from IY Cat
1. Hitokiri of the North

I DO NOT OWN INUYASHA OR RUROUNI KENSHIN (SAMURAI X)!

Okay, this is a post-series fic of both Inu-Yasha and Rurouni Kenshin (For those of you who are inexperienced readers, it means that it takes place after the episodes have ended).

Hitokiri Inuyasha

CHAPTER 1: Hitokiri of the North

My name is Inuyasha, although I'm just known in the underworld as the Hitokiri Shiroi. Many have heard of me, few have seen me; fewer live to tell the tale after seeing me. I am an assassin by night, nonexistent by day.

Why am I nonexistent, you ask? I'm not a normal human, I'm only half. My youkai features stand out too well in the day, which makes getting around quite difficult. When I must move, it is under the cover of darkness in a black cloak and a straw hat to hid my ears and overshadow my eyes (My hair has to be under the cloak; fricken' uncomfortable), my white hair and amber eyes would be to conspicuous for me to go unseen, even in the darkness of the night.

As far as power, I am unmatched except for one person; Battousai. I do not know if I am stronger than him in terms of swordsmanship. Our blades have never clashed. But he would not stand a chance in melee combat. My claws, inhuman speed, and ability to take wounds better than any human would make the fight very one sided.

However, there is one thing that I will kill anyone on sight for daring to say; Kagome. I can only be happy that her name is not widely known, although she has left an unnamed legacy that has lived as long as I, three centuries.

She was the reincarnation of my first love, and I loved Kagome with all of my heart. But that wasn't enough to save her from a group of anti-youkai humans from nearly three villages away. Kagome, and my unborn pup, died that day. When I got back, I found the Humans who were stupid enough to stay, celebrating the death of 'the monster's wife.' Needless to say, they died that day as well. The people of the late Kaede's village were kind enough to offer me a home in the village and a burial ceremony for their late miko, Kagome.

For medical reasons more than the need for protection, the village called for another miko from a far away village. She wasn't exactly happy that there was a hanyou as her partner in protecting the village. A year later, after gaining the trust of the villagers, she had me banished from the area with the promise that I would die if I dared to show my face again.

I chose to go north, far away from my 'home' village. I took a small boat out to sea, trying to find something to do with myself. With Kagome and the others gone, along with the Shikon no Tama purified, life was pretty boring. I ended up in a place that I now know is China, where I learned a new sword style as well as how to fight with a staff and improve my senses (I also found some damn nice silk there, but that's another story . . . although a story that improved my money supply by leaps and bounds). I lived there for a century, give or take, before heading back to Japan. By now the miko of my old village was long since dead, and the children of the villagers who banished me welcomed me back again. Fickle ningen (It didn't take a moron to know why they let me back in, I'd built enough of a name for myself that the number of youkai attacks diminished dramatically after my return).

There I guarded the village for a while, fending off the occasional demon and a VERY small number of bandits who came just to see if they could kill me. By this time, I'd collected many different types of weapons and stored them in a cave where I used to live with my mother before she died. There were more spears than I could count, all with different lengths and blade sizes; a couple of scythes; and a LOT of swords, mostly katana and a few short swords. There were also my friend's weapons, serving as mementos to their lives. I'd received Miroku's staff and Sango's boomerang from their children (all thirteen of them. Needless to say, those two had kept themselves busy . . . ). Kagome's bow was still in the cave along with her bicycle, which was hidden under a pile of rugs to keep anyone I brought in from seeing the odd items. Nobody really came in though; the cave had a barrier on it that only I and the people whom have my permission can go through, nobody else can even see what's inside the cave.

I found Kirara with Shippo; a much older Shippo. He'd already found a female kitsune, had one kit, and another on the way (Everybody was keeping themselves rather . . . busy . . . it seemed). Kirara had chosen to join me and we left Shippo with his pregnant mate, after a lot of hello's and goodbyes (I found that Shippo still hadn't learned how to shut up!). Instead of making my home in the village, I kept to my cave unless I sensed a youkai, then I was out slashing it to pieces with Tetsusaiga (I could fight with a staff, but Tetsusaiga is still the personal favorite, far more fun to watch their eyes widen as the giant blade swept down on them). Kirara mostly stayed in the cave, leaving to hunt or help me take out a youkai or two. Life was getting boring, except for the occasional visit from Sesshomaru. The older youkai had, much to my surprise, accepted me as his younger brother after I killed Naraku; that only meant that he didn't try to kill me and take Tetsusaiga, it didn't make him any friendlier towards me. But I did help him defend the Western Lands a few times, so the bastard is in my debt, a blessing or a curse? Much like so many other things in life, I'll never know; and don't particularly care to know, thank you very much.

Anyway, another century passed and Kirara and I were still bored out of our minds. The human civil war had continued to grow, although I kept to my cave and nobody bothered me, mainly because nobody really knew that neither Kirara nor I existed, the story had eventually dwindled down throughout the generations to only the questioned belief that an incredibly strong youkai protected the village, and even only a few believed the legends, and even then only because of the smaller youkai attack rates. Those that wandered too close and found out about us, well, most threatened us with a fate of death if we didn't give them any and all weapons that we had in our possession, just to increase their own meager power (the rest just tried to kill Kirara and me), died within seconds. I was loosing respect in humans, and quickly. Killing them had less and less of an effect on me, most deserved it. Even the people of 'my' village were becoming more and more violent, but at least they had the common sense to avoid this area of the forest. They gave me peace and quiet in return for protecting them, although the occasional idiot did try to kill me. I did remain in contact with the next village miko, just so I had some connection with what rumors were going around.

Fifty years later, my patience had long since died. 'My' village had been captured by the enemy, as if I could care much. The villagers were becoming murderers and I found no reason to protect them. So I checked a scroll that I had, got a sealing spell, sealed my cave before leaving with Kirara. There had been no news of Shippo, but they say that no news is good news. I personally think that whoever said that didn't have their head screwed on right, but who am I to judge?

I went north yet again, staying in a hut within a dense forest. It wasn't long before I smelled a youkai; it's ki at unmistakable attack levels. I went to check it out, leaving Kirara to guard the hut. It wasn't long before I found a tribe of bear youkai, err, they found me, that sounds closer to the headache I was sporting after one of their numbers' first attack. I still don't know how they managed it, but they attacked me and managed to wear me down. It was the new moon that night, so my power had been diminishing all day. That's my only idea as to how they did it, but they managed to beat me to a point of near death, they'd thrown a feast in celebration of the imminent destruction of a large rival before coming to kill me, but it was all that I needed. A swift Kaze no Kizu took out the entire tribe, but I was still badly wounded. I'd fainted from lack of energy, it was this moment that my life changed forever.

I've been told that I was found by a man, searching to find the cause of a flash of light, only finding the source the late-morning after the sighting (how some animal didn't eat my unconscious body is beyond me, but who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth!). I woke up in a large house, my wounds had been bandaged and my sword was lying beside me (in it's rusty form). A man walked into the room and told me that he was an official in an organization called the Ishenshishi :SP:. He asked me why I fought with a rusty sword, when I was obviously a swordsman (I didn't answer that question). He'd later asked me if I wanted to help bring a time of peace, by being an assassin to take out the enemy leaders. It made sense to take out the leaders, the organization would thus fall apart. I was getting sick of this annoying human war, so I accepted (He gave me a new Katana, offering to dispose of my old one. He was very confused when he found the blade of the katana that he'd just given me at his throat. I just kept to saying that it was a family heirloom, which it was.). I stayed in my hut, only leaving to hunt and when my signal came. It was a long whistle followed by two short whistles. Only the official knew that I was hanyou, that I would easily be able hear a sign like that from so far away.

Kirara mostly stayed at the hut while I went on different missions. Every so often she would come if I had to attack a large organization. Hanyou or not, if I had a sword in my throat I was dead, so Kirara stayed as a backup. She never killed anyone though. I was fine killing, but never attacked women and children. That was pushing the limits.

It was from the official that I heard of the Battousai. I was slightly shocked when I'd heard the rumors of his power, that he was said to be a youkai. I knew that this was untrue. Something about the other assassin just didn't sound like a youkai.

Ten or so years later, the revolution had come to an end. The official had shown up at my hut, offering me a high ranking position in the new government. I turned my friend down (he was the only human of the time whom I ever found to be a friend), telling him that politics wasn't my place in life.

Kirara and I chose to leave two years after the new war ended. The new government was disgusting me. Things hadn't gotten better, they'd grown worse. What made me feel even more regretful was that I helped to bring on this new era. The people saw things differently though. They were naive to everything around them. Idiot ningen, not even fickle, just plain 'ol STUPID. The past ten years had been completely pointless . . . bit of a scratch to the ego, ne?

While in a teahouse, I'd heard that the Battousai had disappeared as well. He'd been seen here and there, mainly saving people's lives, other times just walking around. My life had been the same; just wandering, saving powerless ningen from youkai (While somehow keeping youkai existence a secret), and killing the occasional drug dealer or murderer, assuming that they were actually deemed dangerous enough to be worth my attention.

It felt good to wander again though. It reminded me of the times when I'd traveled with Kagome and the others; sleeping under the stars and jumping through the trees. The youkai were still out, but attacks were becoming few and far between. They weren't stupid enough to attack a human settlement with with rifles and other weapons. I apparently kept my reputation among the youkai of Japan, the three hundred year old, very powerful, son of a taiyoukai. I didn't mess with them, they didn't mess with me; a rather loose cease fire, but it worked for all of us.

About ten years later the heat began to turn up. There were rumors of the Battousai fighting a man named Shishio, along with the rumors came an abnormal string of attacks on different major cities. The youkai were getting restless with the problems. Two humans with incredible prowess were fighting it out, nearly every youkai in Japan could sense rises and falls in their ki. I had to admit, there hadn't been a power like that for a long time.

-:-

Present time

-:-

I checked to make sure that both of my katanas (Tetsusaiga and the normal katana) were firmly attached firmly at my side and that my hat hid my face before looking towards the sky. "It's time to meet you . . . Battousai . . ." I whispered as I donned my cloak and jumped onto the roof of someone's home, jumping from roof to roof with the tiny cat youkai on my shoulder, in the direction of Kyoto. A place called the Aioya to be exact.

AN: Okay. That's the first chapter. The rest will be in a 3rd person POV. I was just trying to explain the past 312 years of Inuyasha's life and found it best if I did it in Inuyasha's POV. If this confused anyone, say so in a review. It's hard jamming 310+ years into a single chapter!

-Ligar Zero X

PS: Shiroi is Japanese for 'white.'

PSS: If anyone finds any errors in this chapter, email me at the address found in my bio (or in reviews). Thank you.

PSSS: R-E-V-I-E-W


	2. The Current Battousai

I DO NOT OWN INU-YASHA OR RUROUNI KENSHIN!

NOTE: I've never written anything with the Kenshin-gumi in it, so humor me and send me an email if the characters are too OOC.

Hitokiri Inuyasha

Chapter 2: The Current Battousai

Inuyasha muttered angrily as he lept from one roof to another, appearing as nothing more than a blur. He hadn't remembered it being this far away, but for this trip he had to travel through quite a few cities, an act that required far more stealth than usual. The hanyou held the straw hat in place as he leapt, letting the cloak wave behind him. He could hear the sounds of a civilization in front of him, but was it the city that he was after? It was in the right area. He would just have to wait and see.

--

A certain red-haired rurouni sighed as he dunked yet another hakima into the soapy water of the tub. He cringed inwardly as he heard yelling which was followed by a loud crash. 'Apparently Kaoru-dono and Yahiko are at it again.'

Sure enough, it was a few seconds later when Yahiko ran out of the dojo with a very angry Kaoru following him, creating a trail of dust; the said dust cloud shooting around the opposite side of the dojo, tailing after the two. Kenshin just sighed and walked over to the gate just as the same dust cloud completed it's trip around the building and began yet another round, leaving the clothes that Kenshin had just washed in varying shades of brown.

Then something clicked in his mind. There was a powerful ki making its way toward the dojo. Kenshin's face became serious as his hand found its way to the sakabatou on his side. The ki, no, TWO ki's stopped in front of the gate as he heard a knock. Kenshin steeled his face as he walked up to the gate, but relaxed as he got within ten feet of the gate. It was just Misao and Aoshi.

"Hey Himura!" Misao said happily as he opened the large door and stepped aside to let them in.

Aoshi just gave the rurouni a curt nod as he followed Misao into the yard. Kaoru was there to greet them, making Kenshin wonder where Yahiko was. A quick ki scan around the dojo revealed the boy to be in the main room of the house.

A few minutes later they were all sitting around the low table in the main room.

- - -

"Are you sure? Those fortune tellers tend to be pretty messed up." Sanosuke Sagara told the group.

"I have heard of her. She is very wise and is yet to be incorrect, that she is." Kenshin said with a slight frown on his face.

"So, she just said that a nightmare from years past would return?" Kaoru tried to make sense out of the prediction. "But there are hundreds of nightmares from the past twenty years alone."

"She also said that he would return from the dead, but I think that she's talking about his legacy that might have died. Things don't come back from the dead." Misao said with an abnormally serious look on her face as well.

"I think that the main point of matter would be to assume something is coming and prepare for the worst, that I do." Kenshin said in a resigned voice.

There came yet another knock from the gate. Was this just the day for visitors, wasn't it?

Kaoru left to get the door and came back a few minutes later with a man dressed in a brown yukata with the same color 'kimono' (what do you call the kimono like bottom of kenshin's outfit? It's like that.).

"Shokijo?" Aoshi actually sounded surprised. "Who's on watch?"

The man bowed to the group before beginning, "Aoshi-san, a suspicious looking person came to the Aioya. He asked for the whereabouts of the Battousai. I told him that I did not know and he left."

"What made him look suspicious?" Misao cut in.

"He wore black cloak that hid his form as well as a straw hat that shadowed his face. But I'm sure that I got a look at his eyes when he tilted his face upward; they were amber, and they glowed in the shadows of his hat. He was in no way normal."

"Tilting his face up?" Kaoru repeated in a questioning tone.

"Yes. I could have sworn that he was smelling something, something that I couldn't. Then he left the city in this direction, but I lost track of him so he probably went someplace else." The guard said.

Aoshi finally spoke, "Did you see his arms, hands, or any other markings?"

"No, Aoshi-san. He must have been an old man though, because he had long white hair that he covered mostly with his cloak." The guard explained.

"Long white hair and amber eyes?" Kenshin reaffirmed. The guard just nodded.

"I see. Keep on the lookout for any more strange appearances. I'll be there as quick as I can." Aoshi told the guard, dismissing him from the room.

The guard bowed and walked rather quickly out of the house and through the gate, closing the door behind him.

"White hair." Kenshin whispered. 'It can't be, he was a legend. Although there is no evidence that he DIDN'T exist . . . But if he does . . . My past has caught up with me yet again.' Kenshin thought with another frown as he tried to remember everything that he could about his days as a hitokiri.

Flashback

"So there's yet another hitokiri working for the ishin?" a red-headed man of around 17 asked another man, this one looking like a high ranking official.

"Indeed. He's known as the Hitokiri Shiroi; and he's said to have speed and strength that could rival your own, although his existence is yet to be guaranteed; there are many a rumor running about of his power, but they are just that, rumors. Although it would explain some of the assassinations in the north." The official said.

"Wouldn't you know of him though? You do lead the Ishenshishi." The younger man asked.

"Even for me, it is a mystery. There is obviously someone of the Ishenshishi who found him and got him to work with us, although I was never informed of the act. It seems we have an under-the-table assassin within our ranks." The older man took a breath to continue, "Although I have received an abnormally high amount of names on the list of successful missions, so I don't find a reason to complain." The older man suddenly looked very uncomfortable, "The rumors say that he is a demon, a real one, with long white hair and gold eyes. One popular story tells of him using a giant sword to slay a creature that appeared to be a giant bear. I think that it's just a child's fairy tale, but the story contains a lot of blood and swearing. I don't know what to make of the stories. Just be careful, Himura. Since I don't know of him, I can't be sure that he is truly fighting for us."

"Long white hair, golden eyes." The man, now revealed as Himura, repeated. "I'll look out for him. Should I attack if I find him, that's assuming that he's real."

"No. At the moment, I'm not sure if you could win. For now, let's just keep our ears open."

End Flashback

'Hitokiri Shiroi; were the rumors true?' Kenshin was beginning to worry. If the stories were true, then things got complicated. The shiroi, a fighter said to have power rivaling or exceeding his own, would either make an invaluable ally or a deadly opponent.

"I'm going back to the Aioya to see about this visitor. Misao?" Aoshi said with his usual blank expression.

"I'm going to stay here for a little longer, if that's okay with you guys?" Misao said as she turned to the group sitting around the table.

She was met with a series of nods. "You can stay for the night if you want." Kaoru offered.

Aoshi nodded and walked through the door, leaving the room to contemplate what was going on.

"Do you know if the story is true, Himura? I remember hearing stories of a mysterious hitokiri." Misao asked the hitokiri-gone-rurouni.

"I can't be sure, that I cannot. What do you remember about the stories? Any similarities?" Kenshin replied with another question.

"Of what I remember, the stories all tell of a man in a black cloak, long white hair, and a straw hat. They all give the exact same description of him, only he does different, amazing things. In one he uses a giant sword to cut a monster in half, although I think that the monster was just symbolism for a person with an evil heart. Then there's another saying that his hands were claws and that he had fangs. I don't know what to think about that. The stories are just too strange to be true." Misao said with a frown.

"Let's worry about this later. I'll get the evening meal ready." Kenshin said with a voice devoid of his usually happy tone, missing the usual 'that I will.'

- -

later that night, 11:00 PM

- -

Most of the gumi, with the exception of Yahiko (Who is most likely still nursing wounds from the chase), were sitting on the grass outside the dojo, talking about the rumors of the other hitokiri.

Kenshin suddenly tensed as the air seemed to crackle with some unseen force. "Hitokiri Battousai, I've come for a fight." A new voice said. Kenshin's hand flew to the sakabatou for the second time that day.

Everyone whirled around to where the voice was coming from. There was nobody there. Then a piece of the shadow moved, all eyes focusing on that spot. "I've forgotten about pitiful, human sight." The same voice said as the form stepped out of the shadows.

The first thing that they saw was a tan disk, a straw hat they found out, as the figure stepped into the moonlight. It was a person, garbed in a flowing, black cloak and the tan hat that overshadowed the upper half of the person's face, although it was easy to see white bangs and a pair of eerily glowing amber eyes. The person's face was framed by long locks of white hair that rested on his black-cloaked shoulders.

"If you're done staring at me, I've come for a fight, Battousai." The face showed a smirk.

"Are you joking? Kenshin could beat you easily! You're too scared to even show yourself like a man!" Misao yelled at him. She didn't know why she felt so weird around him, something in his hard, golden gaze made her want to run in fear, and that wasn't a feeling that she liked. "You'll have to get through me first."

"Feh! Whatever; if those are your demands, then fight me. I won't kill you. Shit, I never planned on killing the Battousai either, but I needed a good fight anyway." The man said as he fixed his eyes on her.

Misao felt a shiver go down her spine as she gripped her shinai before dashing at him. Her shinai was almost touching him before he ducked her slash, leaving her to the effects of her swing's momentum as he just rolled a few feet to the left. "Ooh, so close. But close means death in a real fight."

Misao knew that he was just playing with her temper, but he was challenging her! She charged at him again, planning to hit him over the grip of her shinai. He just ducked again. She made a stab at him and he tilted his body back a full ninety degrees, letting his white hair out of it's confines in the cloak as well as avoiding the attack.

Misao gasped slightly as her mind went back to the stories that she'd heard as a child. Not many people had long hair, none that long; and she'd never met a person with white hair who could move that fast (AN: Think senior citizens). Misao made another horizontal slash at him, while he just smirked and ducked yet again. "Just fight back! I'd feel bad if I hurt you because you were unarmed."

The white haired man just chuckled evilly as she dove at him yet again. This time he was distracted thinking about her comment and dodged a little too late, her shinai cut through the black cloak's shoulder harness, letting it fall off his body, revealing two katanas and white gloved hands that led up to arms that were covered in a red yukata. He wore a white inner yukata under the red one, and a pair of baggy, red hakima (Same outfit as in the series, they grow with him, since they seem to heal along with him).

"Damn. You're really serious, aren't you? If what you want is a fight . . ." One gloved hand twisted itself around the less battered katana handle as she started her kata of slashing at him with the shinai, apparently spurred on by her near hit.

Misao's momentum made her spin around as she looked for her opponent. He'd just vanished as her blade was about to cut into his stomach. There was a sound of steel against steel, a sword being drawn from its sheath. Before Misao even had a chance to move, she felt cold metal pressed against her throat.

"I guess that you lose. I'm impressed though, not many have even torn even my cloak before." The man whispered in her ear as the blade was removed from its place at her neck and slid back into its sheath.

"Why didn't you kill me?" Misao muttered to him, suddenly realizing that he'd somehow managed to hold onto that straw hat with each time he ducked and rolled. What was under there that was so important to keep hidden?

"Feh. You never had a chance to begin with. I humored your desire to fight now get out of my way. I would like to fight the Battousai." The man said as the evil smirk reappeared on his lips yet again.

"I do not wish to fight you, that I do not." Kenshin replied with an odd smile on his face, "Shiroi."

"So you recognized me all along, Battousai? Then you should know that this battle has waited far too long."

"I have already said that I will not fight you, that I did." Kenshin said as he watched the other man's face seem to contort in anger.

"And why the fuck not! Are you that weak now that you don't even have the pride of a hitokiri! I've waited ten years to find out which of us is stronger, and I'm not giving up now!" The man growled as he placed a hand on the same katana before running at Kenshin.

The rurouni was forced to draw the sakabatou to parry the slash made by the katana. It was painfully obvious who had the advantage in weapons, but he had beaten Shishio with the sakabatou and he could do that again!

Inuyasha continued to slash at Kenshin, his once calm and fluid movements becoming more and more broken by the second. "Damn you." The white haired man whispered as his attack was once again blocked by the sakabatou.

Then there was a piercing pain in the back of his head, causing him to drop to his knees as the world spun for a second. "What the . . ." His whirled around to find Kaoru standing there with a bokken in her grasp. "Kami, damned wench! That hurt!"

"It's not meant to feel like a back rub!" Kaoru shot back.

The white haired man looked severely pissed as he stood up. "Screw you all, all that I care about is this fight."

Kenshin felt a shiver go down his spine as he and the other swordsmen locked eyes. The Shiroi was more than a little angry, and seemed fully intent on taking it out on him; but he had to keep the other swordsman away from Kaoru-dono, just in case he decided to get revenge. It also didn't help that he couldn't feel any ki coming from the guy, that just wasn't normal, even for another hitokiri.

"If you need a fight so badly then I will give you one, that I will." Kenshin said as he held out the sakabatou before charging at the Shiroi.

"Finally." Inuyasha muttered as he blocked the sakabatou with his katana. He wasn't ready for the sword cross the break so quickly as he stumbled forward from his own strength only to get another smack in the back of his head, this time from the sakabatou. It hurt . . . a lot, enough to make the bokken feel like a pin-prick.

Kenshin watched as the Shiroi clutched the back of his head with his free hand before whirling back on him with a series of slashes. Kenshin blocked each one before making a set of slashes of his own.

The Shiroi was forced to go on the defense or else end up with one HELL of a headache. His ears couldn't handle getting hit with a piece of metal, and he could tell that the back of his straw hat had been broken in. It was rather shocking just how powerful the battousai was.

It was Kenshin's turn to get a shock as his sword was just grabbed in mid swing when it should have collided with the other hitokiri's chest.

"Battousai, you will not win." The white-haired man whispered before slashing at the rurouni with his katana.

Kenshin wrenched his sword free, leaving a deep cut in the hand of the one who was holding the sakabatou, just in time to avoid the blade.

Kaoru gasped as both fighters just disappeared, only to reappear a few feat away, their blades crossed in an attempt to gain the upper hand. Neither seemed to be making any advances in winning, they were equally matched; although both had smiles on their faces as if they were having the time of their lives.

Kenshin realized that there were no attempts on his life from the other hitokiri. The Shiroi was slashing too easily when it was obvious that he could do better. He could do better too, but it wasn't worth it now. Although this fight was getting tedious. It was time to end this game.

The Shiroi gasped as he felt his opponent put nearly twice as much pressure on his sword. He wasn't ready for a human to have that much strength. He was only using about half of his full ability, since he was only dealing with a human, but this human was still matching him. The battousai was a good opponent, without a doubt. His demon blood craved a battle where it wasn't so one-sided, this was like heaven for him.

Kenshin felt the white haired man stumble back a bit before diving forward, pinning the other hitokiri to the ground with the sakabatou against his throat. The white haired man's katana had flown out of his grasp to land nearly ten feet away.

Kaoru would have cheered with the others if she hadn't noticed something odd. The Shiroi seemed rather happy in his position, which meant that he was planning something, either that or he had some questionable sexual preferences, but that was something she'd rather not consider. That something was revealed as the Shiroi yelled 'Sanken Tetsou' before his gloves started to glow with an odd golden light and seemed to be shredded apart by the light, revealing hands that were more like claws, the nails glowing with the golden light.

Kenshin rolled to the left as a trail of golden light was left where his arm was just a moment before. That would have hurt if it had hit.

Kenshin noticed that every time the Shiroi moved his hands, or claws as they appeared, a trail of golden light would be left behind. At least that made it easier to assume what he was going to do next. But it wasn't long before the light started to fade.

"SANKEN TETSOU!" Inuyasha yelled again as he ran toward the red-headed rurouni, the light in his claws flaring back to life. Kenshin didn't have a chance to dodge. Defending against opponents with claws hadn't been in Hiko's basic training! The next thing he knew, there was an intense heat extremely close to his neck. He looked down to find five glowing digits less than an inch from his throat, all attached to a smirking hitokiri, whose straw hat seemed to have flown off in the course of the dash. This left a pair of furry white dog ears open to the sight of everyone, including Yahiko who chose that moment to walk out of the house. Everyone except a rather pissed Inuyasha and a nervous Kenshin was laughing at the 'dog-boy'. Kenshin kept silent, after all, the one he would be laughing at would only have to move forward a little bit and he'd be dead; but that didn't stop the amused smile from appearing on his face.

The man known as the Shiroi just retracted his claw, huffed, and sunk into a cross-legged position on the grass, looking oddly like he was pouting while muttering something about stupid humans.

Everyone just laughed harder. THIS was the 'Shiroi of legend'! Even Kenshin found it hard to stop the smile on his face from growing, the image of the _legend _POUTING before him being too much for his calm exterior.

The Shiroi just scowled at the ground as if it were the cause of all his troubles in life. 'Damn ningen.'

END CHPT 2


	3. Calming Down

I DO NOT OWN INU-YASHA OR RUROUNI KENSHIN!!!

NOTE: I've never written anything with the Kenshin-gumi in it, so humor me and send me an email or say in a reviewif you think thatthe characters are too OOC.

Also, this stories pairing is NOT Inuyasha/Misao, no matter how much a 'budding romance' might appear to be forming. This is only because Misao, and possibly Sano, is the only one that I can see a friendship appearing so quickly in the story. Do NOT even consider this, as the only pairing with Inuyasha is Kagome; who, shall we say, isn't gone quite yet . . . But you'll hear more about that later.

As a side note, the words between slashes are italics. I was having uploading problems keeping italics. Stupid computer!!!

Hitokiri Inuyasha

Chapter 3: Calming Down

Inuyasha continued to scowl at the sky, pulling one side of his black cloak over his face. He was just lying there on the roof of the Kamiya Dojo as the city started to awaken. People were beginning to bustle about; owners of shops in the market were opening their stores, setting out their wares.

His cloak, being made of Fire Rat fur as well, seemed to have shredded the old neck clasp and grown another. He still had a tender head from when the Sakabatou had hit him, but it felt better now.

He could smell something from the room below him; the kitchen. Apparently breakfast was being cooked. The Battousai's woman, Kaoru, had invited him to stay as long as he wanted so long as he didn't attack anyone. That was fine with him; he just needed to keep tabs on the Battousai. His instincts were telling him to stay there; and they were usually right.

"So, what's your real name? And why do you have dog ears?" Yahiko asked him.

"Feh! And why should I tell you?" The hanyou growled out.

"Sheesh, I just asked." Yahiko muttered.

"I'd like to know." Misao said as well, figuring that two people would be better off for getting an answer out of the 'mute' assassin.

"And like I said to him, tough." Inuyasha replied with a growl laced in his words.

"Well, he's got dog ears, so he's obviously related to a dog in some way." Misao thought out loud as she looked at the ears on his head again. They were the same color as his hair, a soft silver, almost white.

"Heh, that gives new meaning to a son of a bitch." Sano muttered to himself.

In one swift movement, Sano found a katana pressed against his throat, nearly drawing blood. "Don't you dare insult my mother. And for your matter, my mom was human. My father was, err, abnormal."

"So you are a youkai?" Kenshin asked him. It was a bit of a stretch, but he'd rather find out now if the rumors were true or not.

'So the Battousai knows about youkai? That's good.' "Hanyou." Inuyasha stated simply as he watched Kaoru walk across the room with a large bowl of rice held in both hands.

Kaoru placed down the bowl in the middle of the table and took in Inuyasha's appearance.

"You can take off the cloak, you know." She said matter-of-factly.

"Feh." Inuyasha replied before piling some of the rice into a smaller bowl that had been set aside for him. Not understanding why Yahiko was suddenly looking as though Christmas had come early, the hanyou continued with breakfast. Taking up the chopsticks, he took a small taste of the rice before his ears perked straight up and he made a sound that sounded like a dog's YIP. His face contorted in pain as he swallowed the food. "Are you trying to kill me or something?!?!" He yelled as he grasped at his throat. "Just what did you put in that stuff? We could have used that stuff during the war; the enemy would have begged surrender rather than come anywhere near that shit-"

He was cut off as a bokken smacked him between the ears. "What the fuck?!"

"Stop cursing unless you want another smack." Kaoru commanded.

Inuyasha was torn between slashing her to pieces and running for his life. This Kaoru girl was FRICKEN' INSANE! Not to mention that he now had a throbbing headache.

"Baka teme." He muttered as he laid down on his side using a clawed hand to hold up his head.

"I don't recall saying that you could-" Kaoru began getting pissed at the hanyou's act of ignoring them.

She was cut off by Kenshin, "Miss Kaoru, I don't think it wise to annoy a hanyou, that I don't." He said in a pacifying tone.

"Hanyou?" Kaoru looked ready to laugh, "And you believe him?!"

"Well, not many people have glowing, claw-like hands and dog ears." Misao told her.

"The ears are probably fake and the claws are fake as well, just dipped in a phosphorous liquid or something." Kaoru replied while walking behind the said hanyou and grabbing his ears, trying to pull the 'fake' appendages off.

"AAAAHHHHHH!!!!!" Inuyasha grabbed her wrists and tried to free his ears, "Fucking bitch! That hurts! Let go!"

"They're glued on up there pretty well." Kaoru grunted as she let go and left the room. Inuyasha rubbed his ears, trying to make the pain stop then Kaoru walked back into the room with a set of pliers. "I will prove that you're a liar!" She didn't even give Inuyasha a chance to get up before clamping the pliers around his left ear and pulling.

"FUCK!!!" Inuyasha nearly roared as he slashed his claws behind his head, cutting the metal tool cleanly in half, releasing his ears. "Touch my ears again and it'll be your arm next time!" There were actually tears in his eyes as he grasped his abused ears.

Kaoru and the others just stared at the piece of the handle that Kaoru was holding. There was a smooth cut through the tool, something even a sword couldn't do.

"Shit! Those things are real!" Sano sounded surprised. Not many people could cut through a set of iron pliers with THEIR HANDS!!!

"I told you that they fucking were!" Inuyasha grunted as he got off the ground, "I'll be back in a few hours." With that, he walked out the door.

Inuyasha tied a bandana over his head and slipped his also-repaired gloves back on as he headed toward the market. The first thing on his agenda was to get a new straw hat to hide his ears (I forgot to mention, the gloves are fire rat fur as well, so they share the perks of self-repair).

It wasn't long before he arrived at the market. 'There.' Inuyasha thought as he spotted a small table with different styles of hats on them.

Ten minutes and seventy yen later, the hanyou had a replacement for his ruined straw hat. The hanyou looked around to make sure that nobody was looking before removing the bandana and donning the new hat. 'That feels better.' he thought as he made sure his cloak covered his swords before heading off into the outer city.

It didn't take long before the buildings began to get more and more run down. There were many places of disrepair and many people were carrying guns, by the scent of gunpowder on them. He noticed that most humans could subconsciously feel his youki, as everyone moved out of his way, never getting closer than three feet.

"Stop right there." Inuyasha heard a gruff voice from behind him say, "Give me all of your money and I'll let you live."

"Feh." was the reply to the man as Inuyasha continued walking, acting as though nothing had happened.

"I warned you!" The same voice said as the hanyou heard the sound of a knife flying through the air.

Inuyasha twisted to the left and caught the blade of the knife between two clawed fingers. "Bad move." He growled as he threw the knife to his right, embedding it in the wall of a house. "Consider it a warning."

The man behind him just gawked at the sight before nodding dumbly. Snapping out of his trance, he walked up to the knife and pulled it out, well, tried to pull it out. He got it to move a bit, but a few stronger pulls released his weapon. "What the hell was that guy?" He whispered to himself.

"Not the guy you want to confront in a dark alley, much like this one." The odd, white-haired man replied with a small chuckle and a casual wave over his shoulder before continuing down the road, leaving the man to gawk at the mysterious stranger's hearing ability.

Inuyasha walked a couple more blocks before he started to hear the sound of clapping dice and the scent of liquor. THIS was a place that he could deal with, and he could use a good drink. He did have some extra yen in his pocket, so why not? Although it was a little early for this sort of thing . . . ah, screw it.

It didn't take long for Inuyasha to arrive at a rather large building, one that looked surprisingly well kept compared to the surrounding buildings.

The three-hundred and sixty-eight year old hanyou kept his guard up as he walked through the wooden doorway. The strong stench of alcohol was the first thing to invade his sensitive nose as he looked around the building. Judging by the fact that there were only four other people there eating, not gambling, all of whom were sitting at a counter eating different breakfast platters, this place served more than just liquor, although a look at the menu told him that not much more was sold. The place had a more Americanized look to it, with higher dining tables and a regular bar counter, along with a couple gambling tables.

"What can I get for you?" An obviously foreign blonde girl asked as she noticed his arrival.

"Just eggs and toast." Inuyasha said, feeling more like something odd, SOMETHING THAT WASN'T AT ALL RELATED TO RICE!

"Right away!" She said in an annoyingly perky voice that made Inuyasha sigh as the woman turned and walked through another door, glad that she was leaving. That perky voice, being obviously fake, was like nails on a chalk board to his ears.

Another man soon entered the bar, this one ordering some drink with a name so weird that Inuyasha didn't even want to know what it was. It was obviously something of an odd order as the waitress stared at him for a second before just nodding and walking to another counter and pulling out a bottle, dispensing some of the liquid into a glass which she handed to the man.

Inuyasha could easily make out the strong alcohol level in the drink, so it was obviously VERY strong. "Isn't it a bit early for that?" He spoke his exact thoughts from earlier.

The man sighed and gazed at the counter top as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. "I just got dumped, my wife just up-and-left, taking my son with her." A tear fell from the man's eye.

"It's still too early to get yourself drunk." Inuyasha said in a matter of fact voice as the waitress came with his plate. "You're just running away from your problems, hiding behind a glass of toxin."

The man adjusted his gaze to the glass before sliding it away from himself. "Can I just have an order of rice and eggs?" He wouldn't run from his problems, he'd face them like a man.

A small smirk made its way onto Inuyasha's face as he saw the man's actions. It was kind of ironic, that he, a murder, was trying to help someone. Well, that's life for ya'. Then another thought hit him, he was getting soft; too soft. 'Now's not the time to deal with it.' Inuyasha thought, the smirk disappearing from his face as he took a bite out of his breakfast. Surprisingly . . . it was pretty good.

"Hey . . ." Inuyasha began, noticing the tag on the waitress' shirt, ". . . Alice, bill please."

Inuyasha paid the said amount and made his way toward the door, but not before the other man gently grabbed his shoulder.

"Thanks." the man said quietly.

Inuyasha just nodded and walked out of the bar. There wasn't much going on right now, and he personally didn't want to go anywhere near that Kaoru bitch for a while.

"I guess that I'm just back to wandering aimlessly." Inuyasha muttered to himself before walking down a deserted gap between two houses before jumping onto the roof of the said house and making his way towards the center of the city.

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Kenshin stared intently at the sky as he lay on the roof of the dojo. The other assassin had yet to show up again, which made him nervous. Was it a good idea to just let him go? He could have been a spy making a get-away after finding his needed information. 'I dislike thinking like the Battousai again, that I do.'

It wasn't long before a figure in a black cloak dropped out of the air next to him.

"Did you have a good time?" Kenshin asked, trying to spark a conversation with the other Hitokiri. He didn't notice the tiny, red-eyed cat jump off Inuyasha's shoulder and dart off the roof and into the currently deserted dojo.

"Grand." The white-haired man said simply before walking to the edge and gently hopping off. At least now he was ready to face 'the baka teme from hell.'

Maybe it was a blessing then that the said woman wasn't in the Dojo, so said his nose. However, that other girl, Misao, was sitting in the living room. She was the other one that pestered him too much for her own good. At least with the others he could just piss off and they'd huff and walk away, or yell at him before walking away, or just try to smack him (not that it would get someone very far again, with his patience level), and the could always just ignore the usually resigned Battousai . . . no, Himura Kenshin. That man was no longer the assassin that he once was, although Inuyasha couldn't decide whether or not that was a good thing.

"What do you want?" He asked her as she shot him a questioning look.

"First of all, /Inuyasha/, what are you doing here? And do tell the truth."

It only took a second before his normally neutral face took on one of pure furry. "How the hell do you know my name?"

"I'm a ninja in training, one that has connections. One that also has connections with Aoshi." Misao assumed that the said man's name was known quite well in the assassin-world. She was proven correct as a look of enlightenment suddenly replaced the anger.

"Shit. I didn't foresee this." The white haired man whispered to himself as his hand wrapped around the handle of the katana on his hip. Had it been anyone else, he would have been forced to kill them, but his instincts were telling him that this wasn't the path to take in the current situation; BUT WHAT THE HELL WAS?!

Misao just stared at him confidently, although prepared to grab one of her own weapons should it be needed. Something in the other man's eyes told her that she wasn't going to die that day, but it could be an elaborate poker face. She would just have to ride it out as it came.

"What else do you know?" Inuyasha asked, his hand still not leaving the katana's handle.

"Well, first of all, nobody else knows about your name but Aoshi and me, and possible Himura, but I won't be the one to change that. Second of all, not much; you've done a good job of covering our foot-prints, even from our spies. All that we know is that you have fought, once or twice, with a giant sword against some unknown creatures. It's only because Aoshi has fought some of these creatures as well that it's even believed."

"Hnnn . . ." This girl had as-good-as given him quite a hit list should he have wanted to guarantee his secret. But still, one with ties to Shinomori Aoshi didn't just let things slip out like that? No, she knew full well what she was doing. Apparently she trusted him with this information, something that forced his mind to begin rethinking the way some humans worked. Maybe they weren't all pieces of shit, maybe there was some hope in the world?

"Now I have one question for you. What do you plan on doing now?" Misao asked. "Besides taunting me any more."

"Can't claim to know." Inuyasha would have left it at that, but she had bestowed a trust in him and he preferred to do the same for her as quickly as possible, so as to repay his minor debt with relatively pointless information, "Something tells me to stay here for a while, so I guess that's what I'll do. I've mostly taken to wandering, avoiding being locked down to one place."

"I see." Misao replied while kneeling down on one of the cushions around the short table. "Then that leaves us back where we began."

"That just about sums it up." Inuyasha replied with a smirk, glad that he'd finally had a good conversation with someone who he DIDN'T either ignore or just piss off so badly they couldn't hear anyway.

The two sat in a semi-comfortable silence until Kaoru walked into the room, then the air suddenly seemed to weigh three tons. Kaoru glared before huffing and walking into the kitchen to deposit the items that she'd bought at the market.

Heh, no pressure now.

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Inuyasha just groaned as he slid open the dojo doors. Life SUCKED! At least Kaoru was in a better mood as she'd just been asked to teach someone her sword style. When word that she had pupils again got around, the dojo would once again begin to bring in new students, as well as some money. It was unfortunate, though, that the dojo still wasn't looked upon too well because it's master was a woman. The good news didn't make her any nicer to Inuyasha though.

The sun would rise in a few hours and then the crazy bitch's student would arrive. He'd sensed Kirara in here, apparently sleeping, judging by the calmness of her youki. Deciding that he'd waited too long between training sessions, Inuyasha removed his cloak (he didn't wear the hat in the premises as the inhabitants already knew about his heritage, and he'd put it on again when anyone else entered for training or to speak to Kaoru) and drew his katana, getting into an offensive stance before beginning his kata, starting at only five percent of his full power and gradually making his way up to full strength.

Kenshin was shocked as the hours went by. He'd been awakened by the sensation of an attack ki nearby and had gone in search of the small tingle of energy. It didn't take long to find the Shiroi inside the dojo; making slashes and flips in a complex kata, although only moving with the power of a complete amateur. After the first half-hour, the hanyou Hitokiri was fighting at the same power he'd used against Kenshin, and was still rising, even quicker this time. By the time another twenty minutes had gone by, Inuyasha was now a red and white blur to Kenshin's eyes, which was by far faster than himself, and Kenshin could already move faster than a normal person could see. He could feel the wind from the Shiroi's sword as it phased through the air, dozens of glints of silver reflecting off the blade every second. While he was incredibly fast while in control of everything, when one fought an enemy it wasn't wise to move so fast, as your odds of making a mistake would sky-rocket. Although it was amazing to watch what speeds one with youkai blood could achieve, he had to warn the other Hitokiri that the student would be arriving soon.

"Eh . . . gomen, but the students are going to arrive soon, that they are." Kenshin made his presence known to the youkai, who jumped back and landed in a crouching stance to defend against an attack before literally growling at Kenshin.

"Thanks." Sure didn't sound to thankful to Kenshin, that was for sure.

"We can't continue to call you Shiroi, so we'll have to call you by your real name, or you can make up a name. It would scare away Miss Kaoru's new student if there was a Hitokiri here who went by his Bakumatsu nickname." Kenshin explained, dropping the formalities.

"I agree, so you can call me Inuyasha." Was it wise to give these humans his real name? His name was his weakness; he was putting a lot of faith in them by letting them know this. With his name they could compare him to youkai legend and find out some things he'd much rather keep hidden. No matter. If they abused the privilege then it would only further secure his belief that ningen were simply the stain of this planet, and he would kill them and anyone else who knew his name without hesitation or mercy.

Even if his mind did come up with the threats . . . he was still placing his trust in humans, something he'd vowed to never do again. 'I'm getting too soft.' Inuyasha sighed as the two walked back into the house.

'Much too soft. I will not let any of these traitorous bastards near me! Even if they appear to be good people, they, like all the others, will just betray or leave me in the end. I will leave myself no weaknesses.'

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AN: Well, another chapter for you! I just got the shock of my life. This chapter was last updated . . . April of 2004! Sorry about the L-O-N-G wait. I'm on an Inuyasha inspiration streak right now, and it will hopefully last a bit longer.

-Ligar Zero X

PS: You know the drill, tell me if you see any errors and stuff. I'm writing this while studying for my mid-terms tomorrow so there could be a few in there.

PSS: R-E-V-I-E-W-!-!-!


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